


Little Artist

by Rulerofthecosmosandsnails



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Anyways, Art, Depression, Dog Walking, Dogs, Drawings, F/F, Fluff, Foreshadowing, I swear, Jealous, Occasional angst, Polyamory, Pre-Canon, SO MUCH FLUFF, Schizophrenia, Sick Character, Sickfic, Sleepovers, Suicide Attempt, also during canon but, damn you archive, dan piper ur mom let you have four girlfriend, gotta put teen rating because they wont let me say fuck otherwise, i could fill three pillows with this much fluff, i don't know why, i stil love it tho, i thought it was cute, i tried to post this three times, i'll also explain that later, it's cute, it's relevant for later, not really tho, only for a little bit, oof gay, piper can talk, piper's got a glass eye, pls let me post my work, relationships are snowballing, she's got minor ptsd, soon, the mc can draw sue me, they're gonna be added soon, this accidentally turned into a series, very soon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-04-04 19:58:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14027640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rulerofthecosmosandsnails/pseuds/Rulerofthecosmosandsnails
Summary: The four times the MC draws the girls before she meets them, and what that entails.





	1. Chapter 1

The first time that Piper drew an actual person was her friend Sayori.

The girl had been playing video games with a very intense expression on her face, and Piper knew she had to capture the moment.

The sketch started out simple, a head, hair, and torso of the mentioned girl, with an added bow.

Then she started focusing on the details. The tilt of her hair, the swish of her pinkish-blonde hair and how it fell into her eyes. The subtle, but endearing, bite of her lower lip. The way her blue eyes focused on the television in front of her.

It was supposed to be a simple sketch, but somehow it turned into line art and color within the span of a few hours. The pencil was run over with pen, and the shading was brilliant, some of the best Piper had ever done.

The next day, Piper fiddled with the hem of her uniform as she waited for Sayori to come out of her house. There were slight bags under her greyish eyes from staying up to finish the drawing. Sayori soon walked out of her house, and Piper bit her lip anxiously.

Sayori, bright, bubbly Sayori, who never missed a detail, whose eyes were clouded over with worry for her friend who looked like she hadn’t slept. Who looked at her like she was the important one, and not like she was just a simple friend.

When Sayori asked why she looked off, Piper thrust the drawing into her hands and flushed slightly. She kept her eyes down, hesitant and anxious about the way her friend would react.   
Sayori’s eyes widened with shock and her mouth dropped open just a little. Piper, who was biting her index finger out of nervousness, shot her an apologetic look. Then, Sayori noticed the note at the bottom.

_Sorry I drew you without permission! You just looked so concentrated, I couldn’t help it! You are pretty good at that game, despite it being your first time. Also, wash your bow, it’s filthy._   
_~ Piper <3_

  
Sayori looked at her silent friend, who was anxiously gnawing on her finger. She took her by the shoulders, and immediately demanded where she learned to draw like that. Piper looked up, a look of relief on her face, and muttered something about being self-taught.

Sayori whined about how she was so much more talented, and that it was ok that she had drawn her without her permission, if she didn’t do it of anything embarrassing. Piper’s eyes glinted, and she grinned mischievously at her.

Sayori laughed and hugged her, grateful she put a smile on her face, and took her hand. They strolled down her driveway, hand in hand, and Piper felt content.   
~~~  
The second time that Piper drew someone was the pretty piano player she passed by early in the morning.

She was stumbling through the hallways, trying to find her way to her first class, when she heard a piano being played. Her sleep-addled brain decided that it was a great idea to miss the first ten minutes of homeroom and instead wait at the door and listen to the music.

Then, the girl began to sing, and Piper knew she had to document the occasion.   
The girl was tall, with honey-brown hair tied in a ponytail that fell just below her waist. Her white bow flopped and moved as her pale fingers danced along the keys, lithe and with precision. Her voice, light and sweet, echoed about the room effortlessly.

While it was hard to sketch someone who was moving, Piper did a pretty good job with it. She worked diligently, until the music came to halt and Piper remembered that she was late.   
She sprung up and out of the room, her feet flying down the corridors of the school. Pencil in her mouth, she burst into first period and slid into her seat, the late bell ringing just before she sat down.   
As with Sayori’s picture, the sketch soon turned into line art and color. Piper tried to capture the beauty of the morning sun and the light that shined on the girl’s hair, but she couldn’t without sneaking into her practice again, and Piper felt like she would be caught instantly this time.

She spent the whole night working on it, trying to perfect the picture, but eventually fell asleep around one, dark hair splayed across her desk and her face buried in her arm.   
The next morning, she speed-walked to school, dragging Sayori behind her. She poked her head inside the music room, and seeing that there was no one in the room, she placed the picture on the piano and slipped out of the room.

When Monika entered the music room, the last thing she expected was a rather well-drawn picture of her on the shelf of the piano. As with Sayori’s, there was a note in the bottom corner of the page as well.

_Hi! I’m sorry for drawing you without permission, but you were just so beautiful! Your singing is amazing, and your piano-playing isn’t half-bad either! I’d love to draw you again, this time with your permission, of course!_   
_~ Piper <3_

  
Monika resolved to find this Piper person, and thank them for the drawing.

(She was also maybe a little flattered at the compliments in the note!)  
~~~  
The third time Piper had drawn a person was the little, spunky girl sitting under a cherry tree reading manga.

Her face was half serious and half serene, a rather odd expression but it seemed to fit the girl rather well, considering her personality.

Her pink hair was blowing slightly in the breeze, and she was sitting with her back up against the tree with her school bag in her lap.

Piper, never one to miss an opportunity, immediately whipped out her sketchbook and began to lay the foundations of her drawing.

First was the tilt of her head and the swoop of her pink bangs, pared back with a little red clip. Her mouth formed the words as she read, and Piper struggled a bit in finding the perfect position.   
The girls’ uniform was unbuttoned a little bit, and her orange-scaled vest sagged a bit over the small frame. The skirt was a bit too big for the girl, and fell just above her knees. She had various bandages on her legs, likely from falling and scraping her knees, or something.

She was reading Parfait Girls, Piper realized. She remembered the bubbly, slightly-serious manga series, that had been made into an anime. The anime wasn’t as good as the books, however.   
She wondered if the girl had read other manga.

As with the other two drawings, Piper stayed up almost all night to make sure that it was perfect. She tried to capture the light of the morning sun on the girl’s pale skin, and the position of her hair and how it fell around her face.

The shading and color were as good as last time, and Piper made sure she didn’t fall asleep on her work this time. She woke up with pencil and pen marks on her face and arms.   
During lunch, she walked over to the cherry tree and set the drawing underneath it. Then, she jogged away before anyone could see her, especially the girl, who was known to take no shit and cuss out anyone who got in her way.

When Natsuki all but limped over to the cherry tree, the last thing she had expected was to find a pretty good picture of her reading Parfait Girls, again with a little note at the bottom.

  
_Hey! Sorry, I drew you without permission, but you looked so serene! You’re reading Parfait Girls? Might I recommend Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid? Or if you’ve read that, maybe Ouran High School Host Club? I’d love to draw you again, but with your permission, of course! Please don’t yell at me._   
_~ Piper <3_

  
Natsuki wanted march right up to the person who drew her and demand how they had the right to draw her. But, she figured that that wasn’t the best course of action, even if they did it without her permission. She did want to check out those recommended series, though.   
~~~  
The fourth, but not the last, time Piper had drawn a person was the beautiful purple-haired girl in the library.

Piper had ducked in there after a torrential downpour caught her by surprise, and was wringing out her long dark hair onto the floor near the back, where the librarians couldn’t see her. That’s when she caught sight of a rather pretty girl reading in the horror section.

At first glance, she didn’t seem like the type of girl who would like horror, but look closer and you could see the secret smile on her face, and the anticipation in her eyes as she turned the next page.   
Piper, naturally, felt like she had to draw the girl, after the other three she had drawn. So, she wrestled her sketchbook out of the depths of her blue draw-string bag and a pencil out of her hoodie. She pushed up her horn-rimmed glasses and began to sketch, occasionally stealing glances at the girl.

She first sketched the head, then the torso, making sure to add the slight lean and the posture of the girl. She drew the long, flowing hair of the girl, even longer than the piano-players from all those weeks before.

Piper made sure to draw the almost invisible hair clip in the dark hair, and the slight swoop of her bangs as she turned the page. She made sure to include the slight sparkle of the girl’s eyes as she read the story, and the little smile on her face that either grew or shrank as the minutes wore on.

A flash of lightning and a boom of thunder made Piper jump, and she checked her watch. Her eyes bugged out at the time, she was supposed to meet Sayori at her house in a few minutes! She hastily packed her things, and sped out of the library, but not before catching a glance at the book the girl was reading, A Portrait of Markov.

As with the other drawings, Piper stayed up all night to make sure this one was perfect. She made sure she got the curve of the girl’s purple eyes right, and the little quirk of her eyebrow as she read.   
The girl was propping herself up with one hand as she drew, her eyes growing heavier and heavier with the passing hours. She caught herself dozing off a couple times, and jerked herself awake before she could drool on her pens.

The next morning, she stumbled to the library, and made her way towards the back. She found the book and slipped the picture inside, careful not to damage either of the works of art. Then, she smiled tiredly and walked out, trying to find her way to school in the pale morning light.

Some hours afterwards, Yuri opened the book to find a picture of her fluttering out of it. Curious, she picked it up and looked at it, marveling at how someone could draw this well. As with the previous pictures, there was a little note at the bottom.

_Hiyah! So sorry for drawing you without permission, but you looked so peaceful with your book, I couldn’t help it! What’s the book about? Also, if you’re a fan of horror, watch the Sixth Sense. It’s an old American movie about a kid who can see ghosts, it’s really good! Anyways, I would love to draw you again, this time with permission!_   
_~ Piper <3_

  
Yuri hummed and flushed a bit at the accuracy of the drawing, and resolved to find this ‘Piper’ person and thank her for the drawing. She also now wanted to watch this ‘old American movie’, and see why it’s so good.   
~~~  
When Sayori came barreling into the clubroom and announced that she had found another member for the club, the other girls were ecstatic. Finally, someone knew to talk too, and to discuss books or manga or movies with!

Sayori gave a dramatic drumroll, smacking her hands on the desk repeatedly, and then made an over-dramatic gesture to the door.

“Piper!” She shouted, and a small girl walked in through the door. The other girls immediately were reminded of the picture, and scrambled to stop what they were doing to stare at the new girl.   
Her dark cheeks turned darker slightly at the attention she was getting, and waved slightly, hiding behind large horn-rimmed glasses. She opened her mouth to say something, probably to introduce who she was, but was interrupted by Natsuki.

“Did you draw me?” She demanded, bringing out the picture that Piper had drawn many weeks ago. Piper hesitantly nodded, before Monika interrupted her as well.

“Did you draw me, too?”

“And me?” Yuri said, snapping her book shut.

Piper suddenly looked extremely nervous, and began to bite her index finger again. When she was going to check out the literature club, she didn’t expect the girls to be the ones that she had drawn.

“Wait, you drew them too?” Sayori asked, turning to the anxious girl. Piper nodded weakly, trying to hide behind her friend, who had turned back to the others “What did you guys think? She’s really talented, right?”

Monika nodded eagerly, “Where’d you learn to draw like that?”

Piper mumbled something about being self-taught, before Natsuki interrupted again.

“You drew us without our permission?” She said, and Piper winced.

“Natsuki, they were very good drawings.” Yuri stated, crossing her arms and turning back to the poor girl, “Sorry about her, she’s always like this.”

“I know they were, but still…” Natsuki trailed off, flushing slightly, “You shouldn’t draw people without their permission!”

Piper frantically mumbled apologies, and Natsuki knew she had upset the girl in some way.

“I-It’s fine, I guess.” Natsuki mumbled, and Piper brightened, “They were good drawings, anyways….”

“So!” Monika said, drawing attention away from Piper, “Why’d you come to the literature club?”


	2. Tired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Titles - The Big One, Piper Doesn't Sleep

Piper swears it started out as an accident. It was a Tuesday when she noticed that the girls mostly kept to the same spot, and talked to the same people. Monika to Sayori, Sayori to Yuri, Natsuki to Sayori, and etc. 

She had taken out her sketchbook and did a quick sketch of the scene, resolving to finish it up as a little side project later.  
Turns out, it was not a little side project. 

Piper was invested in it, and spent many nights trying to prefect the picture. She wanted it to be perfect when she showed it to the others. 

She showed up to school exhausted, dragging her feet and almost falling asleep in class. 

Now, the other girls weren’t fools. They noticed that Piper seemed a bit off, and resolved to find out what was bugging her. Or to at least make her feel a little better, as the bags under her eyes looked more and more permanent with each passing day.

When Sayori walked her to school, she slipped an arm around her shoulder, because she was stumbling. Monika lent Piper her notes when she had noticed the girl had fallen asleep in class for the third time. Yuri walked her through the halls after Piper had taken the wrong turn for the second time that day. Natsuki had not-so-sneakily yelled at the girl to eat after she’d forgotten her lunch that day. 

Of course, Piper was oblivious to all of this, as she was only getting a few hours of sleep a night, and that was when she’d fall asleep on her work and wake up with drool on her arm. So, she allowed the arm on her shoulder, allowed Yuri to pull her to her next class, and then run in the other direction. She let Natsuki yell at her for not eating, because she was basically shut off during the day. 

The only place she could get a semblance of sleep was the literature club, but she didn’t want to seem rude to the other girls. Unknown to Piper, however, Monika had intentionally dimmed the lights a little to coax her to sleep.

It was also taking a toll on Piper’s mental health. She almost burst into tears when she dropped her pen, and in the afternoons, she would shut herself up in her room and just lay down on her bed. Staring and staring at the wall, thinking of nothing, but also her thoughts were running a mile a minute. 

So, when she was on the last legs of her project, Piper was on edge. She was aware of everything and nothing at all. She flinched away at Sayori’s arm, but then apologized profusely at her hurt expression, almost bursting into tears herself. When Yuri placed a hand on her shoulder, she jumped and looked around with wild eyes, before coming back into focus with Yuri apologizing rapidly. She very nearly cried when Natsuki yelled at her again for forgetting her lunch, but the girl stopped when she noticed the tears welling up.

So, when Piper came barreling into the literature club with a rolled up piece of paper, the girls immediately knew what had kept her up all those nights. 

She had slammed the paper down on her desk and collapsed in a chair, exhausted. The other girls scrambled to find out what the new picture was, and why it had taken her so long, and had taken such a toll on the girl’s health. 

They saw a very intricate drawing of them. Natsuki was reading her manga by the window, a box of the books beside her. Yuri was sitting at a desk with her book, A Portrait of Markov, and had a secret shine in her eyes that could only be semi-captured by the picture. Sayori was sitting next to Monika, an open book in front of Sayori and homework in front of Monika. The two were conversing with delight in their eyes. 

They turned to Piper, mouths open, and they found the girl slumped over on a desk, snoring softly. Sayori took off her blazer and draped it over the girl, before stroking her hair and thanking her softly. The other girls soon followed suit, also touching her briefly and saying a word of thanks. 

They turned back to the picture. 

“Where should we hang it?” Natsuki asked, her voice a hushed whisper. 

Monika looked around the clubroom, until her eyes settled on a spot just to the left of one of the windows. She grinned and pointed at the spot, and the other girls nodded. 

They all grinned one last time at Piper, before grabbing the paper and rustled around in the drawers for tape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's short but it's cute
> 
> follow my tumblr - localcryptidsapphire


	3. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Titles: Piper Can Speak, The Club Members Get Flustered, Piper Is A Stubborn Ass, Piper's Kind Of A Flirt,

The following day, however, the all-nighters and vigorous hard work took its toll on Piper’s body. She woke up feeling heavy, like she had just been dunked in a vat of tar. Her body ached and her head felt like it was being pounded in with a bunch of railroad spikes. 

She got up, swaying briefly and stifling a sneeze before walking over to her closet and grabbing her uniform. She could barely settle her shaking hands as she slipped on the cool outfit, a shiver wracking her entire body. 

She walked by the kitchen and gave it a semi-disgusted look, food didn’t seem that good right now, and over to her bag. She shuddered as she bent down to grab it with fumbling fingers, her body just felt wrong at the moment. 

Piper put on a jacket and walked out the door, shivering violently as she hit the cool morning air. She trudged over to Sayori’s house, where the girl was standing in front of the door, as if waiting for Piper.   
Sayori looked increasingly more concerned as she approached, and Piper wondered what was going on in her head. 

“Are you ok?” she asked, “You don’t look too good.”

Piper shrugged and Sayori bit her lip, before wrapping an arm around her shoulder. It was a common occurrence now, after Piper finished her pictures she was normally very tired. Piper leaned into her touch, almost stumbling over her feet when they began to walk. God, why was she so weak to day?

When they got to the school, Sayori walked her to class. Piper tried to ask why, her first class was on the other side of the building, but Sayori just mumbled something about ‘that’s what friends do’, or something like that. Piper just shrugged and allowed the girl to help her to her seat, where she slumped over a bit. Sayori gave her a last concerning look, before walking out of the classroom. 

For the rest of the day, Piper had a pounding headache, but she could still function. Sure, she had to have Yuri lead her to her fourth period after stumbling over her feet, and Natsuki had to force her to eat, and all she wanted to do was sleep, but other than that she was fine.

When she got to the literature club, she tucked herself into a corner and buried her head into her knees, quickly falling asleep. 

Monika looked over at her, “She seems off.”

Sayori nodded, “Yeah, she was stumbling over her feet when we walked to school today.”

“Also, when I walked her to fourth period.” Yuri stated. 

“She didn’t eat. I practically had to force her.” Natsuki said, furrowing her brows in worry. 

Monika, who was silent throughout the exchange, walked over to where Piper was sleeping and put two fingers on her forehead. She hissed sympathetically and withdrew her hand, looking over at the other girls. 

“She’s pretty hot.” she stated, wiping her hand on her skirt, “She must be sick.”

“But she seemed fine this morning…” Sayori trailed off, looking crestfallen. 

“We probably should take her home,” Yuri stated, “It would be better to take care of her there.”

A sudden stir from the girl in the corner sets the entire club on edge, but soon she settles down and begins to snore softly. 

“How will we get her home?” Natsuki whispered. 

“We could drive her.” Yuri whispered back. 

“Do any of us have a car?” Sayori said, glancing at Piper. The girls all shake their heads no, and Natsuki mumbles a curse. 

“We could… carry her?” Monika suggests, “You’re tall enough to do it, Yuri.”

Yuri flushed, “B-But—”

“Come on Yuri, you’re pretty strong, and the tallest!” Natsuki said, before flushing, “N-Not that I’d been paying attention or anything!”

Sayori gave Yuri the biggest puppy-eyes known to man, and Yuri sighed, “Fine, I’ll do it.”

Sayori cheered quietly, before saying thoughtfully, “But can you carry her all the way to her house?”

“I’ll switch with you if you get tired.” Monika states quietly, but not weakly. Yuri nods, before taking a deep breath. 

She walked over to Piper and hesitantly slipped an arm around her shoulders, and one under her knees, before picking her up. Piper’s head lolled against her shoulder and she curled into Yuri’s body. The other girls couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. 

Yuri turned back, her face completely red, and muttered, “L-Let’s just go now.”

Without waiting for an answer, she swiftly walked out of the room and into the hallway, and the others could hear the click-clack of her shoes on the polished marble. The looked at each other and shrugged, before jogging out of the room. 

The walk back to the house was hard. Midway through the journey, Yuri’s arms were already dead and shaking, and she was making an effort to walk. Monika wordlessly held out her hands, and let out a grunt as Piper was transferred to her. 

“What does she eat? Bricks?” Monika asked, struggling a bit with a new weight in her arms, “She looks thin on the outside.”

Piper stirred and turned over in Monika’s grasp, opening one pale brown eye. “…Fuck you…” 

Natsuki let out a snort of laughter, and Sayori giggled. Monika turned very, very red, and tried to apologize. 

“I-I didn’t mean, I’m sorry—”

Piper let out a hoarse laugh that turned into a cough, “’S fine. I could ‘ave walked, though.”

“No, you are sick.” Yuri stated matter-of-factly.

“Sick?” Piper asked, and the girls around her nodded, “’Slpains a lot.”

“Why did you tell us you were feeling bad?” Sayori asked, “We could have helped!”

“…Sorry.” 

Monika sighed, “Well, we’re almost to your house. Can you walk?”

Piper hesitantly nodded, and Monika set her down. She wobbled a bit, and Monika slipped an arm around her shoulders. Luckily, her house was only a block away, and Piper could walk the distance. Just barely though, she was very tired when she got to the front door. 

“Stand back.” Piper said, gesturing for them to get out of the way.

“Why?” Natsuki said, just before Sayori said, “Are you sure you can do this?”

Piper nodded, and took a deep breath. She took her key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. Instantly, a deep, large noise sounded from inside of the house, and a huge black shape was barreling through the hallways. 

The girls scrambled out of the way, all except for Piper, who stood there nonchalantly. She raised her arms and caught the mass, getting knocked off her feet in the process. The monster and Piper went tumbling off the doormat and into the grass behind them. Piper’s world went black briefly as her head hit the ground with a large smack, and then came into focus when a large tongue started licking her face. 

“Off, off.” She said, lightly smacking the creature, “Off.”

The monster barked, Piper getting a face full of bad breath, and hopped off of her. It circled around her, settling down at her head. 

Sayori was the first one to move. “Piper! Are you ok?!”

Piper grunted in affirmation, and Sayori grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Her world spun and tilted and she swayed on her feet, only Sayori’s hand keeping her steady. 

“What is that thing?” Natsuki asked, pointing at the large dog at Piper’s feet. 

“’S Koa.” Piper muttered, and Sayori put a hand on her back. 

“We should probably get her inside.” Sayori said, leading her in. Piper hummed, stumbling after her. The other girls followed suit, glancing wary looks at the dog that trotted in after them. 

They lead Piper upstairs to her bedroom, where she laid down and cocooned herself under the covers. 

“Are you going to be alright by yourself?” Monika asked, “One of us can look after you.”

Piper hesitated. Just for a second.

“’ll be fine. I usually get sick for like, a day.” Piper said, waving a hand out of her blankets, “I’ll be fine. Though I wouldn’t be opposed to a bunch of cute girls looking after me.” Piper poked her head out of her cave to give them a sleepy, half delirious grin and a wink. 

The other girls turned red, and Sayori pushed her under the blankets once more. “You are delirious. Sleep.”

Piper slunk under the blankets once more, and there was a moment of silence before her voice sounded again, muffled by the blankets, “I’m not wrong, though.”

“Oh my god.” Sayori groaned, but there was a smile on her face, “Sleep.”

Hoarse laughing came from the mound as the girls shuffled out of the room. A small ‘good night’ came from Piper, and the other girls echoed the sentiment. They turned off the lights and shut the door, each of them agreeing to never let the artist live this down. 

As they walked out of the house, one thought struck their minds. 

There were pictures of Piper’s parents, but no pictures of Piper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Foreshadowing? In my good christian fic? it's more likely than you think.  
> Also, true story. Once in fourth grade, I woke up feeling a bit off, but I went to school anyways because fuck American public schools. Anyways, I had this really bad headache and had to go to the nurse. Turns out, I had a fever of 102 degrees, and I didn't even know it. So yeah, kinda based this story off of that one.


	4. Fake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> piper has something she'd rather not, and then learns something she'd rather not

Piper had a false eye. 

Next to no one knew, which is just like she liked it. 

It looked really convincing, she had to say. While it sometimes stuck and dried out, it was better than walking around with no eye at all. 

The only clue anyone got was the faint scar along the left side of her face. 

But luckily, no one noticed, and if they did, they kept to themselves. So, Piper was content with living her life like she had two working eyes. 

Until February, because life loved to throw little curve balls occasionally. 

Her eye had been sticking, and she had asked to go to the bathroom. She grabbed her water bottle and emptied it out into the sink, before taking a deep breath. She stuck her index and middle finger into her eye socket and pulled, the eye popping out with a wet squelch. 

Piper shuddered, but filled her water bottle with water once more, this time dropping the eye into it. She shook it around, hopefully ridding the glass sphere of any dirt or bacteria, or just any nasties in general. 

What Piper did not know, however, was that there was another person in the bathroom. She heard the stall door creak open, and a short girl stumbled out of it. She was visibly upset, her cheeks streaked with dried tears. 

Piper froze, and very slowly twisted the cap off the bottle. 

“Piper?” she said. Piper froze, it was Natsuki, “What are you doing here?”

“Uh,” Piper stuttered over her words, looking for a metaphorical way out, “I was washing my hands?”

“Why do you have your water bottle?” Natsuki asked, looking at the plastic container. 

“I was… going to fill it up after washing my hands.” 

Natsuki squinted, before she noticed something, “Piper, what’s wrong with your eye?”

Piper turned red and ducked her head, “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Piper.” 

“Natsuki.”

“Piper, seriously. Face me.” Natsuki demanded, and Piper could see no way out of this.

“Please don’t freak out.” Piper said, before turning around. Natsuki opened her mouth to scream, and Piper covered it with her hands. She gave her a pleading look, before slowly removing her hands from her mouth. "I told you not to freak out!"

“What the fuck!” Natsuki whisper-screamed, and Piper winced, “Why don’t you have an eye?!”

Piper grimaced, before taking the glass eye out of her water bottle. She popped it back in with a wet slosh, and Natsuki turned a little green. 

“’Eye’ don’t know what you’re talking about.” Piper chuckled nervously, before noticing something, “Were you crying?”

Natsuki stiffened. “N-No! I’m not!”

Piper looked her straight in the eyes, and Natsuki saw that the false eye looked paler, more artificial than the other. She didn’t know how she could have missed it. Piper’s stare probably could have cut through her soul, and Natsuki gulped. 

“I-I,” Natsuki sighed, “I h-haven’t been doing as well as I would have hoped.”

Piper nodded, gesturing for her to go on.

“An-And occasionally…” Natsuki looked down at her hands and mumbled, “Mydadhitsme.”

The words came out fast, but not fast enough for Piper not to hear them. Her eye widened and she loosed a sort of feral growl. She turned to look at Natsuki, who shrunk away from the animalistic look in her eye. 

“Where.” Piper said.

“Ex-Excuse me?”

“Where did he hit you.” Piper said again, her eye flashing with something Natsuki had never seen on her normally placid face. She gulped and lifted up her shirt, showing her an array of purple, blue, and green bruises. Piper looked at them, before saying, “I’ll be right back.”

She disappeared for a few minutes, and came back with a first-aid kit and a wet cloth. With gentleness Natsuki didn’t know the girl possessed, she raised her shirt a little more and dabbed at the bruises with the cloth. She then carefully wrapped her ribs with the bandages, stopping whenever Natsuki hissed. 

When she was done, she patted the bandages, and stood and stretched. 

“…Where did you learn to do that?” Natsuki asked, gently prodding at her ribs. 

“Trade secret.” Piper stated, filling up her water bottle once more. She took a swig of the water, and Natsuki gave her a slightly disgusted look. Piper just grinned at her. 

“…You won’t tell anyone, right?” Natsuki said, glaring slightly at the girl. 

“Tell you what,” Piper said, “You don’t tell anyone about my eye, and I won’t tell anyone about you. Deal?”

Natsuki nodded, “Deal.”

Piper grinned and slung an arm around her shoulder. “I’ll walk you back to class.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof piper why u being cryptic  
> anyways, hope yall like the chapter


	5. Fake (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fake part two: electric boogaloo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> double-update, woo

The way Piper told Sayori she had a false eye was a bit unconventional. 

You see, her and Sayori were in the same art class. Sayori always complained about how Piper was better than her, which was true, but Piper had a knack for drawing, and pretty much nothing else. Except for not sleeping and being kind of an asshole at times. 

But, Sayori had steady hands, so she was great at sculpting and doing things with her hands. While Piper’s clay cup looked more like a lop-sided bowl, Sayori’s actually looked like a cup. 

(Piper knew she would switch her drawing skills for Sayori’s steady hands any day, not that she’d tell Sayori.)

But today, they were drawing. Anything really. Their teacher was out for the day, so they had a substitute, who was inept at literally anything that involved art, as Piper oh-so generously pointed out. 

“Hey, Piper.” Sayori said, and Piper looked over at her, “This says we have to draw our neighbors eye. Can you stay still for a minute?”

Piper grinned, and threw caution to the wind as she said, “I’ll do you one better.”

Sayori looked at her curiously, which soon turned to disgust as Piper stuck her fingers in her eye. She very nearly threw up as Piper pulled it out with a squelch and set it on the table. She sat there, gaping like a fish and she looked from the glass eye to Piper herself. 

Piper grimaced, she probably shouldn’t have done that. But her fears were proven false as Sayori grabs her hands and whispers, “You have a glass eye?!”

She nodded, and Sayori’s eyes sparkled, “That’s so cool!” then she frowned, “How’d you get it? If you don’t mind me asking, of course!”

Piper stopped. Stopped thinking, stopped doing anything, nearly stopped breathing. Her eye kind of flickered with something Sayori had only seen a few times. Then she shook her head minutely, and smiled at her, a hint of sadness in her gaze. 

“It was…an accident.” she said, “You can see the scar. It’s faint.”

She pulled back her hair and Sayori tried not to gag at the sight of an empty eye socket. But sure enough, there was a faint scar going from the top of her forehead down to her chin. It seemed so obvious now, why hadn’t Sayori noticed it before. 

She lightly traced a finger down it, and Piper shivered at the touch. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be drawing my eye?” 

Sayori jolted and turned red, withdrawing her hand quickly. She muttered a ‘sorry’ and stared hard at the eye on the table. Piper chuckled, before beginning of sketch of the side of Sayori’s face. 

She had her head slumped slightly, her body bent over the piece of paper. There were still the remains of a blush on her cheeks, faint, but there. Her tongue was sticking out slightly, a habit which Piper found endearing. 

She chuckled as Sayori looked to the eye, a faint look of disgust on her features. Piper didn’t blame her, if Sayori had taken out her eye, she probably would have thrown up. But she admired the girl’s resilience. The only other time she had shown someone her eye, besides Natsuki of course, they had run away. Piper lost a friend that day.

She shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts. That was then, this was now. She had a new life now, and she would screw it up, like the last time. 

“So, have you shown anyone else?” Sayori asked quietly. 

Piper nodded, “Natsuki. But she walked in on me cleaning it in the girl’s bathroom, so there was really nothing I could do.”

“You showed Natsuki before me?” Sayori made a mock-hurt gesture, “I’m hurt, Piper. I don’t know how I’ll recover.”

“Well, it is a glass eye.” Piper said, then her voice got uncharacteristically somber, “People tend to not react well to it.”

Sayori looked over at her friend, who was lost in her memories. She panicked briefly, before changing the subject, “Are you going to show the other literature club members? I’d think they’d be excepting enough. Though I don’t know how you managed to keep Natsuki quiet…”

Piper turned a bit pale, before saying, “Well, just a stroke of luck I guess? I do plan on telling the other girls sometime as well. Maybe this afternoon? Better late than never.”

Sayori nodded, sketching the pupils of Piper’s eye. “Yeah, I guess so. I know Yuri would probably freak out. I-In a good way of course! You know she’s fascinated with that stuff.”

“What, freaks with artificial body parts?” Piper snorted, then saw the look on Sayori’s face, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”

“Well, I definitely think you should tell them, at least Monika.” Sayori said, before handing back the eye, “I know they’ll be cool with it, okay?”

Piper hummed, “Yeah, I guess so. You’ll help me?”

“Of course, I will!” Sayori said, “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Piper sighed and nodded, before Sayori hugged her. “You’ll be fine. I know it.”  
~~~  
Which was the reason why Piper now stood outside the literature club door, clutching Sayori’s hand. She shuffled her feet, and Sayori gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before opening the door. 

It was the same scene as always. Yuri in the corner enraptured with some horror book, Natsuki by the windows with her manga, and Monika in the front, doing something on the whiteboard. Piper gulped and walked in through the door, catching the attention of Monika. 

“Hey, Piper!” she said, waving, then frowned, “What’s going on? You don’t look to good. Are you sick again?”

“No, no. J-Just fine.” Piper stammered, fiddling with her fingers, “I-I actually have something to tell you guys, if that’s alright. Well, more like show you, but…” she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders.

“Oh?” Monika said, then gestured for the other girls to get closer, “What is it?”

“W-Well, Natsuki and Sayori already know what it is, b-but, I figured that I should show you guys as well.” Piper said anxiously. The two girls had already walked over to where Piper, Monika, and Sayori were standing. Natsuki gave her a look, and Piper nodded. Her mouth made a slight ‘o’ and she nodded back. 

Piper took a deep breath, “Here goes.” 

She stuck her two fingers in her eye, internally smiling as she heard Monika and Yuri gasp. She pulled out the eye, grimacing as the cook air rushed into her eye socket. She placed the eye on the table. “Ta da?” 

Piper made jazz-hands. 

They were silent for a bit, and Piper started twitching more than usual, anxious to get out of there. Finally, Monika spoke up, “Piper, when were you going to tell us this?”

“Well, uh, I, um…” Piper stammered ducking her head, “Maybe never? I mean, Natsuki figured it out by accident, and Sayori just found out today, as sort of a joke? So, uh, I don’t know?” she looked up at them, her one-eyed expression oddly endearing, “It’s fine if you don’t want to be friends with me or anything, I’ll just—”

“No! No.” Monika said, “I still want to be friends, it’s just… a lot to take in I guess?”

Piper sighed, relieved. She turned to Yuri, who was still open-mouthed staring at her eye. 

“Piper.” Yuri finally said, and Piper braced herself, “This is so cool.”

“Uh, thanks?” Piper said, unused to her sudden blunt way of speaking, “I guess?”

“I-I’m sorry, I just…” Yuri trailed off, before steeling herself, “Why would you think we wouldn’t want to be friends with you?” she suddenly turned a bit red, and mumbled, “Also, can I touch it?”

“Sure, Yuri.” Piper said, gesturing to the eye. Yuri picked it up hesitantly and looked at it from all sides. Piper cleared her throat, “To answer your question, the last time I showed someone… they didn’t react very well. I guess I’m just really nervous.”

“No need to worry! You can trust us with anything!” Natsuki said, “Unless you have like, serial-killer tendencies. Then we have a problem.”

Piper snorted, “Thanks guys, really. Yuri, can I have my eye back?”

“O-Oh, yeah!” Yuri said, “It’s just really fascinating.”

Piper shrugged, “You’d be the first.” she turned to Monika, “What were we doing today?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn piper ur mom let u have four great, understanding girlfriends? jealous.  
> also, more foreshadowing! because i love that.  
> this is partly based off of a tumblr post, the one where someone's brother took out his eye  
> thanks for reading


	6. Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you all knew it was coming

Piper was having a terrible night. 

You would too if your friend almost committed suicide that night. 

Piper thanked any deity that would listen that Sayori managed to call her during the night. It was now two in the morning, and Piper didn’t think she could ever sleep again. Images that were long buried started to resurface again, but she had to stay strong for Sayori. 

Piper vividly remembers the sheer panic and terror when she burst through Sayori’s door and flung herself up the stairs, to see Sayori groping at the rope around her neck with bruised and bloody fingers.   
She sat there, holding Sayori, sobbing into the phone as she called 911. She didn’t want to do this again. Not again.

Images of a broken body underneath a tree flashed in her mind, and she shut her eyes and shook her head. She couldn’t think about that now. Focus on the task at hand. 

The ambulance had eventually come, and they forced Piper away from her friend, kicking and screaming. She didn’t get to ride in the ambulance with her. She didn’t get to before either. 

She was beginning to see things. Tiny things, out of the corners of her eye. Flashes of black, sparks of white. She knew they would escalate. They always did. 

A kind doctor gave her a cup of coffee, she declined the tea, and she sat there with the cup. She knew she shouldn’t drink it. It made everything worse after a while. 

When a nurse tapped her on the arm, she nearly jumped out of her own skin. The nurse, while startled, said something, but Piper couldn’t focus. So, she nodded, and the nurse helped her up into the ambulance. 

She looked at Sayori’s sleeping form, and grabbed her hand. It felt clammy, and the dried blood on her fingers made Piper shudder. 

She again thanked every deity she could think of that they managed to loosen the rope. She couldn’t do this again. 

Piper didn’t remember the ride to the hospital, nor the walking in part. She remembered someone kicking a chair across the room, maybe that was her, and she vaguely remembered crying. She just sat and stared at the wall. 

Doctors came and went, occasionally prodding her for an answer. Piper just snarled at them when they did this, and they eventually went away. 

She protected Sayori from the things in the corners, and the shapes on the walls. She sat by her, vigilant and near feral. 

She remembers nurses trying to get her to leave, but nothing after that. So, she sat in her chair and watched. 

She always watched. 

She just regretted that she never followed Sayori back into her house after she screamed at her. She couldn’t believe she missed Sayori’s depression. 

She failed to notice his depression as well. 

But she guessed it was fate. Cruel fate. 

Piper hated fate. 

But now fate had her sitting in an uncomfortable hospital chair, by her comatose friend. She stroked her head thoughtfully, before snarling at the thing in the corner. 

It shrank back. Good.

She felt Sayori stir around nine in the morning. She was immediately by her side. The thing in the corner was getting bigger.

“Piper?” her voice was cracked, weak. Not like Sayori’s voice from before, and Piper hated it, “What are you doing here?”

“Watching.” Piper murmured, stroking her bangs. 

“Why are you here?” Sayori muttered, a bit louder than before, “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“No.” One-word answers were all she could manage right now.

“Why did you save me?” Sayori looked at her with something resembling hatred in her eyes. 

“Friend.” Piper failed to mention how she’d done this before. 

“Why?” Sayori said, her eyes starting to fill with tears, “Why Piper? I’m worthless.”

“No!” Piper snarled, eyes flashing. Sayori shrunk away, and Piper withdrew and flinched, startled at herself, “No. You are not worthless.”

“Why not?” Sayori’s voice rose, “Why am I not worthless?! Why don’t I deserve to die?!”

“Because I need you!” Piper yelled, the tears finally coming to her eye, “I need you, Sayori. I-I can’t lose another…”

“You don’t need me.” Sayori scoffed, “You have Monika, or Yuri, or Natsuki.”

“They need you too!” Piper said, “Besides, I just met them! They haven’t been pretty much my only friend for five years!”

The thing moved in the corner again, and Piper whipped around to snarl at it. Not now, she was having a moment. She could deal with this later.

“Piper, what are you growling at?” Sayori asked, a bit of worry entering her dull eyes. 

Piper turned back, “Nothing. Thought I’d saw something is all.”

Sayori scoffed, “Bullshit. Don’t lie to me, Piper.”

A little bit of fear entered Piper’s one eye. She looked over at the corner, an action not unnoticed by Sayori. 

Piper sighed, if Sayori had told her about her depression, she could tell her about her problems. 

“I have… schizophrenia.” Piper sighed, and Sayori gasped, “And since I hadn’t slept in a while, it’s getting worse. I need my meds, or something. I’ll be fine for now, though.”

“Oh, this is because of me isn’t it,” Sayori mumbled, “Not the mental issue, but you not getting any sleep, and I called for help, I should have died that night—”

“No, Sayori.” Piper said, taking her hand again and looking her in the eye, “You don’t deserve to die. No one does.”

“But—”

“No. No matter how much you wish to, you should never take your own life.” Piper stated, something like remorse entering her eye, “It gets worse before it gets better, I know. But remember, it still gets better.”

“Piper…” Sayori muttered, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks, “I don’t deserve you.”

Piper laughed, a bitter sound, “No, I don’t deserve you. I’m… not the best person. I don’t notice the things I should, and I can’t really do normal people things.”

“That’s true, you do have an unhealthy amount of ‘watch me’ attitude.” Sayori smiled minutely, and Piper almost cried with relief, “But you face down demons every day. I’m just a coward who doesn’t know what she’s doing half the time.”

“You face demons too.” Piper said, squeezing her hand, “Though not the semi-tangible kind. I can’t do things too, and sometimes, yeah, I feel like shit. But I know it gets better, and you should too.”

Sayori sniffled, brushing tears off her face, “You’re too good to me.”

“No, you’re too good for me.” Piper said, before holding out her arms for a hug, “Come here.”

Sayori very nearly sprung out of bed in eagerness to hug her friend. They were both crying, very hard, and gripped each other tight. 

They spent the rest of the day, or at least the visiting hours, talking. They talked about everything, but steered clear of Sayori’s depression or Piper’s schizophrenia. 

The doctors soon forced Piper out of the room, but not before she hugged Sayori one last time, and gave her finger guns and wink as she was pushed out the door. 

One thought sprung into Sayori’s mind as she left. 

What did Piper mean by, ‘I can’t lose another’?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i do love my foreshadowing, don't i?  
> eh, I've had this idea in my head for a while, so I had to get it down sooner or later.  
> Something fluffy for the next chapter, yeah?  
> or maybe not, depends on my mood  
> hope yall liked it


	7. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thought yall needed fluff

“So, uh, what game should we play?” Sayori asked, going through the cupboard of games in Piper’s basement. The literature club members were currently at Piper’s house for a sleepover. They thought it was appropriate with all the things that have been going on lately. 

Piper opened her mouth, before Sayori cut her off, “No, we are not playing a dating sim.”

“Why not?” Piper pouted. 

“Because when we played Huniepop, which was a horrible decision, when you bagged the first girl, you declared yourself a ‘MILF hunter’.”

Piper sighed, “One google search ruined my life.”

Yuri got down on her hands and knees and pulled out a game. “How about… Okami?”

Piper’s eye widened and she grinned, “Hell yeah!”

Natsuki shuffled over to Yuri, “It says there’s only one player, though.”

“We could take turns?” Monika suggested. Piper nodded, and popped open the case.

“Haven’t played this in a long time.” She stated, putting the disk in the console. She turned on the TV and the old Wii logo popped up. “Oof, haven’t played the Wii in a while either.”

“What’s it about?” Natsuki asked, taking her place on the couch next to Yuri. 

Piper clicked the start button the game before answering, “So, you basically play as a dog-god and run around saving people and doing stupid shit.”

Sayori lightly smacked Piper on the shoulder, “Language.”

“English.” Piper mumbled, sitting back on the couch to watch the opening scene. It was of a darkness that ravaged the land, and a forest sprite was reviving the dog-god, whose name they learned was “Amaterasu”, Ammy for short.

////

“So, we have, like, a little bug friend named Issun?” Natsuki asked, “And he’s, like, really perverted?”

Piper nodded, focusing on the game. 

“Wait, what are you doing now?” Monika asked. 

“Drawin’ stars.” Piper muttered, dotting the little places where there needed stars. When she was done, a burst of light shot out from the video game, and suddenly there was dragon on the screen. 

“This game is fuckin’ weird.” Natsuki said. 

“That it is, Natsuki.” Piper said, “That it is.”

///

It was near impossible to get Sayori to swear. But, apparently ball-rolling puzzles will unleash a torrent of rather creative words.

“Christ, Sayori.” Piper muttered, “You’ve been spending too much time around me.”

“Goddamm—” Sayori swore, muttering to herself. The ball went off the screen and down the hill, and she let out a screech and slammed the controller on the ground.

Piper pet her head softly, “Yeah, I know it’s hard.”

She pressed her face into Piper’s shoulder. “I hate this…”

“I know,” Piper muttered, “There’s four more of these, so we can all take turns screaming and throwing the poor controller.”

Sayori groaned and Yuri picked up the controller, and silently handed it to Piper. She handed it Sayori and said, “One more try?”

“Fine…” Sayori groaned, lifting her face from Piper’s shoulder and slumping over herself. 

///

The tree spirit, Sakura, had just transformed into her original form. Her kimono was shoulder-less, which also meant that her boobs were hanging out. 

Piper let out a low whistle, “I forgot how hot she was.”

The other girls echoed her sentiment, and Natsuki mumbled, “I’d let her turn me into a tree.”

///

Yuri had the controller now, and she was winding her way down a tunnel and to another guardian sapling. She looked rather intense when she purified it, and Piper had to wave a hand in front of her face in order to make sure she was still in the real world. 

“Yuri, you okay there?” Piper said, and Yuri startled. 

“O-Oh! Sorry, Piper, it’s just the world is so beautiful!” She stammered, and Piper nodded. 

“It is pretty addicting.” Piper agreed. 

A man had suddenly entered the scene, and Piper was instantly alert. His hat had weird cloth attached to it, and it kind of looked like his hair. His pink suit had large, fuzzy red buttons on the front, and he looked a bit like a clown. 

“Ah, shit!” Piper exclaimed, “It’s the husbando!”

“Husbando?” Monika asked. 

“His name is Waka.” Piper said, “He’s pretty cool.”

The other girls were a bit jealous of Waka.

///

“What’s the crimson something or other?” Monika asked, “Is that like, a boss or something?”

Piper nodded, “Literally the easiest boss in the game. Its real name is the Crimson Helm, it sounds tough, I know, but it’s not.”

“Oof, Piper.” Natsuki said, “Ruthless. You hurt the monster’s feelings.”

“If Monika dies to that,” Piper began, “I’m going to scream.”

///

Monika, thankfully, did not die to the Crimson Helm, and found that defeating it was easy. 

“You were right, Piper.” She said, “It was pretty- goddamn it, is that Waka?”

“Yup!” Piper clapped her hands excitedly. The other girls groaned. 

“Is he stealing the Serpent Crystal?!” Natsuki exclaimed, then turned to Piper, “Why do you like this guy?”

Piper shrugged, “You’ll see.”

///

“Damn, gettin’ cloudy.” Piper muttered, pointing the camera up at the sky, “Something’s gonna happen.”

“You still have to go to the festival, though.” Yuri pointed out. Piper nodded grimly. 

“And suddenly everything comes flooding back.” She muttered, steering the little god to the exit. 

///

“No! Kushi!” Sayori yelled, “We gotta save her!”

The mentioned woman had just been chosen as a sacrifice to the eight-headed serpent, Orochi. They exited the village, to find Kushi standing by the entrance to Shinsho Field, holding something. 

“What’s that?” Natsuki asked. 

“Sake.” Piper stated, as Sayori read the dialogue, “You know what that means.”

“We’re gonna get the demon drunk, aren’t we?” Monika asked. Piper grinned crazily at her, and she sighed and smacked the palm of her hand onto her face, “Why did I agree to play this game?”

“Beeee-cause you love me?” Piper asked, grinning. Monika blushed, but groaned. 

///

“I hate this.” Piper stated as she connected the dots for the chicken fire-god, Moegami. “I really, really hate this.”

“Why?” Sayori asked. The girls were all leaning on each other, half-asleep, staring at the screen. Monika and Sayori were slumped onto Piper, while Yuri was lightly dozing into Monika’s back, unaware that Natsuki was cuddled into her back, snoring softly. 

“Well,” Piper murmured, “When you are scared of fire like I am, you tend to hate the fire gods.”

She felt Monika frown into her shoulder, before her sleepy voice said, “You’re scared of fire?”

“Terrified.” Piper murmured, saving the game before switching off the console, “I’m going to go get blankets, okay?”

She felt them both nod, and she carefully extracted herself from the pile of girls. Instantly cold from the lack of body heat, she hurried to the closet to grab some blankets. Piper covered Natsuki and Yuri in a purple one, while she got a big white one for her, Sayori, and Monika. 

Piper snuggled back into her spot and felt Sayori’s and Monika’s arms wind around her. She leaned into their touches and quickly fell asleep, feeling very content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dang piper u got four girlfriend? jealous


	8. Somber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> piper's not herself today

Piper seemed… off today. 

It wasn’t just Sayori that noticed. She knew that other students noticed as well. 

She was oddly quiet on the walk to school, and she was really quiet in class. She had this… sort of permanent sad look in her eye, it had been there since the morning. 

“Hey, Sayori?” Piper muttered. Sayori whipped around, having heard her friend’s normally enthusiastic voice for the first time today, “I’m not gonna make it to the literature club, can you tell Monika?”

“Yeah, I will.” Sayori frowned, “How come?”

Piper smiled sadly at her, “I have something to take care of, I’m sorry.”

Sayori nodded, and Piper walked away. 

God, even her walk was depressed.

///

“Wait, where is she, then?” Natsuki asked when Sayori told them the news. 

“I… don’t know.” Sayori admitted, “She just said she had ‘something to take care of’. I’m really worried.”

Monika frowned, “Is she okay?”

Sayori shrugged, “She seemed off on the walk to school, and didn’t make an of her usual sarcastic comments about the substitute today.”

“She just picked at her lunch.” Natsuki said, “She looked distracted, so I didn’t want to call her out on it.”

“Yeah, she was really absentminded when we walked through the hallway together,” Yuri added, fiddling with a piece of her hair, “She just kind of looked at the ground and walked.”

“We should visit her!” Sayori exclaimed, shooting up from her chair, “I mean, we should at least see what has her so bothered.”

“I don’t think we should intrude on her privacy like that.” Monika said, “I mean, what if she finds out?”

“I agree with Monika, if she found out, she would hate us.” Yuri said, and Sayori paled a little. 

“I still think we should visit her…” Sayori muttered, “I mean, like, we should cheer her up a little. She did it for me…”

The other girls quieted at the memories of a few weeks ago. Both Piper and Sayori were emotional wreaks after that, with seemingly permanent bags under their eyes and grimy pale skin. 

Monika squeezed Sayori’s hand, “I think we should go visit her. Cheer her up.”

Sayori smiled sadly, lost in the memories of the week. They all shuffled out of the room single-file, quiet and a bit somber. 

The walk to Piper’s was… depressing to say the least. With the unknown threat of what Piper was doing lie in their heads, they hurried over to the girl’s house, a bit eager to get there. 

They walked up and they all simaltainiously gulped. 

“Are you sure we want to do this?” Yuri asked, playing with the lower parts of her hair. 

“Well, my bus already left, so I’ve got no choice.” Natsuki stated, sounding braver than she felt. In truth, she was terrified that they’d mess something up and Piper would go off, and refuse to interact with them ever again. 

Natsuki swallowed and knocked on the door, once, twice, three times. A large barking sound erupted from the house, and then the slow footsteps of someone walked up to the door. 

Piper answered, looking drained. She looked at the other girls and blinked, as if she wasn’t seeing them properly. Probably because she had taken out her glass eye.

“What are you guys doing here?” her voice came out rough, like she had been crying, “I thought Sayori told you that I had something to do.”

“I did…” Sayori trailed off, and looked up, sheepishly, “But you just looked really sad, so we came to cheer you up! At least, until you have to go do the thing.”

Piper sighed, long and slow. Then, she stepped to the side, “Come on in.”

“Thank you!” Sayori said, and practically bounced up the steps towards the door. She stopped, and then gave Piper a hug. 

Piper stiffened, before slowly wrapping her arms around her friend. Monika soon walked up and joined them, and then Yuri, and finally Natsuki. Piper just seemed weak, defeated. Such a drastic change from the loud, sometimes crazy girl they knew. 

Piper eventually relaxed into the hug, but made no move to return it. Probably since her arms were pinned from all sides. Eventually, the hug was broken, but they still surrounded Piper. 

“So, uh, you guys probably want to know what’s going on, right?” Piper voice was cracking, and they could see tears welling up in her one eye. She gestured for them to come inside, and they complied. 

Piper led them into the dining room, and disappeared to the kitchen. They could hear a bit of banging, and then a small gasp, but soon Piper emerged with five cups of tea. She set them down in front of them, she had even color-coded the mugs. 

“So, why did you leave?” Monika asked. 

Piper grinned at her, a bitter smile, “I told you, I have stuff to do.” Then she leaned back with her red mug in her hands, and said, “I guess this is where I tell you my life story, huh?”

The other girls said nothing, and Piper whistled, “Tough crowd. Well, I guess I should just tell you all out-right. I’m adopted.”

She grinned bitterly at their gaping faces, and Sayori spoke up, “You are?!”

Piper nodded, “Yup, I was about twelve when I came here, so I’ve been adopted for about…” she tallied on her fingers, “Five years? I’m seventeen, so yeah, I guess.”

“So, this is the anniversary of your adoption?” Yuri asked, and Piper shook her head. 

“No, this is the anniversary of my family’s death.” One of Piper’s flaws was that she’s rather blunt, and this new information cemented that statement. The girls sat, open-mouthed, and stared at the girl. 

“D-Death?” Natsuki asked. 

Piper nodded, “House fire. I’m the only one alive.”

Monika and Sayori had instant flashbacks to the sleepover, where Piper had confessed that she was afraid of fire. 

“I-Is that how you got your eye?” Yuri stuttered, and Piper nodded. 

“Also how I go these.” She lifted her shirt and showed them a variety of burn scars along her torso, some were small, but there was one going around to her back that was the biggest one. The club members had never seen so many scars on a person. Except for maybe Natsuki.

“Wait, how did you make us tea if you’re scared of fire?” Sayori asked, “It doesn’t make sense.”

“I’m good with controlled flames,” Piper said, blowing on her tea and taking a sip, “It’s the campfires and fireplaces that scare me the most.”

The girls sat there, processing this information. Slowly, Sayori got up and hugged the girl again. The others soon followed suit, and soon they were practically stacked on top of each other in order to comfort the girl. 

As they drew back, Natsuki said, “Wait, how are you not crying?”

Piper shrugged, “There are no more tears left to cry over them. I used them up a long time ago.”

“Is that why there are no pictures of you in the house?” Sayori asked, then said thoughtfully, “Come to think of it, I never see your parents anyways.”

“They don’t care.” Piper said, “I’m just a child that would carry on the bloodline or whatever. All they care about are my grades. At least they got me Koa.”

“Where is she, anyways?” Sayori looked around the room, but the huge black dog could not be found.

“I left her outside.” Piper said, “She didn’t need to see me like this.”

Monika frowned, “At any case, your parents don’t care at all?”

Piper shrugged again, “Not that I know of.”

“Okay, we need to have another sleepover right now.” Natsuki stated, squeezing the girl’s hand. 

“My house?” Monika asked, and the other girls nodded. 

“Just let me let in the dog so I don’t forget, and then I’ll go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i now have a total of about 3000 words of pure angst, so have fun with this


	9. Strong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> monika has muscle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its short but cute

When the other girls entered the literature club, they found it virtually empty. There were little to no desks, no chairs to be seen, and the cheery little streamers that had been hung up in the classroom were no more. 

They turned to Monika for an explanation, and she said, “The last class was playing a game and they removed the desks. We have to go get some.”

So, here they were, struggling to get desks out of the storage room and carry them upstairs. 

Piper, was by definition, not strong. She practically had to push the desks out of the storage unit and into the clubroom. While being small had its advantages, strength was not one of them. At least Natsuki was having the same problem. 

When she pushed the fourth desk into the classroom, she almost collapsed on the floor. She watched as Monika came in, carrying a desk and a chair, and gasped slightly. 

She shot up and ran over to Monika, “You have muscle?!”

Monika looked confused, but nodded warily. 

“Can I touch them?” Piper’s eye was practically shining with glee. 

Monika set down the desk and nodded, and Piper almost bounded over to touch them. They felt tough and a little squishy, like all teenager muscles are. Piper traced a finger down Monika’s bicep, the latter shivering slightly at the feeling. 

“Piper?” Sayori asked, “What are you doing?”

Piper turned to Monika, “Show her!”

Monika sighed and blushed, but flexed her arms. Piper heard Sayori choke on her own spit, and she speed-walked over to where they were standing.

“Can I touch them, too?” Sayori said, blushing slightly. Monika flushed again, but nodded, and Sayori put a hand on her arm. Her mouth dropped open slightly, and she rubbed her hand over Monika’s arm.

“Could you, like, pick me up?” Piper asked, and Monika sighed, but slipped an arm underneath her arms and knees, and lifted her up. Piper gasped slightly and whispered, “This is the happiest day of my life!”

Monika blushed and set her down, but Sayori was instantly in her place, “Pick me up, too?”

Monika picked her up and Sayori gasped and wrapped her arms around Monika’s neck, blushing heavily. She buried her face into Monika’s collarbone to hide her blush, which just made Monika blush, and Piper laughed slightly. 

“What are you guys doing?” Natsuki grumbled, shoving a desk into the classroom. Monika instantly dropped Sayori, who managed to land on her hands and feet. They were both still blushing, and Natsuki narrowed her eyes. 

Piper saved the day when she yelled, “Natsuki! Did you know that Monika had muscles?”

Natsuki’s eyes widened, and she turned on Monika. “You do?”

“Monika does what?” Yuri asked, entering the room with another desk. 

“She got muscle!” Piper said, turning to Monika, “Show ‘em!”

Monika huffed and flexed, and Yuri’s mouth dropped open while Natsuki gulped. 

“You could bench-press me….” Natsuki mumbled, and Piper laughed. 

“She lifted me and Sayori.” Piper stated proudly.

Natsuki immediately shut her mouth and marched over to Monika, making little ‘up’ gestures at her. Monika sighed and picked her up, and Natsuki squeaked, before slapping a hand over her mouth and blushing. After a minute, Monika set her down and turned to Yuri, who blushed and looked away. 

“I-I don’t think you’ll be able to p-pick me up…” Yuri trailed off as Monika, in a deadpan expression, lifted Yuri up and over her head. Yuri squeaked and hid her face in her hair, and Monika giggled a little bit. 

Setting Yuri down, Monika turned to the others. “We should probably get the other tables in here, yeah?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lesbabs


	10. Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> piper's a soft butch lesbian whose easily embarrassed by her almost-girlfriends and I'm not sorry for any of this

Piper thought it was time for a change. Her life was great, she had four great friends (crushes), decent grades (eh), and one good doggie (debatable, Koa got into the garbage last week). But, she was a little bored with her routine.  
What could she do? Standing in front of the mirror, she looked at herself. Every flaw, every mark and twitch shown by the damn mirror. But what could she do?

Piper fingered her long brown hair, and suddenly had an idea. 

“Koa!” she shouted, and the dog barked in response, “I’m going out!”

The next day, Piper wither figured she had made the best decision, or the biggest mistake. She had forgotten that she should have told the hairstylist that she wanted it a little bit longer than her original goal. Unfortunately, she failed to remember this little detail, and let the hairstylist do what she wanted. 

So, now her hair was cropped to her ears, messy and tangled with sleep in the early morning. She ran her fingers through it, not even bothering to brush it. Her bangs flopped over her eyes as she stumbled around the bathroom, trying to find her toothbrush. 

She eventually found it, and after brushing her teeth and giving herself a little pep-talk in the mirror, she walked out of the house and onto the street. 

She felt like everyone was watching her, and she shrank into her uniform. Well, it was too late to turn back now, she was already in her uniform and she didn’t feel like changing out of it. 

She was halfway to the corner when Sayori came barreling down the street towards her. She stopped at the corner and looked around, confused.

A thought plonked its way into Piper’s brain. What if she doesn’t know it’s me?

She reached out and tapped the girl’s shoulder, and she flinched. She turned to confront the perpetrator, and then stopped.

“Piper?” she asked, “Is that you?”

Piper nodded, suddenly shy and very, very nervous. Sayori stared at her, open-mouthed, and reached out a hand. Piper was completely still as Sayori ran a hand through her hair. It felt pretty good, actually. 

“Do you like it?” Piper asked, not meeting Sayori’s eyes. 

Sayori’s hand froze, and she quickly withdrew it and blushed, “Y-Yeah! It looks…. really good.”

Piper flushed a dark red, and ducked her head, looking at the ground. “Th-Thanks. L-Let’s just get to school, yeah?”

Sayori nodded, and bumped her shoulder with Piper’s, “Hey, chill. I’m sure people will love it.”

A small smile graced Piper’s face, and she mumbled, “I hope so…”

School was… decent. Piper got a lot of glances and whispers about her new haircut, not all of them were good, however. A few shoves here and there, some name-calling but other than that, school was normal. 

Piper wasn’t feeling as confident as she could be, though. She just kept her head down, which was harder since she had gotten a new haircut, but at least she got some good reactions out of her friends. 

Natsuki very nearly choked on her own spit and turned pink when she looked at her, and Piper just smiled and and blushed and took out her lunchbox. Yuri had flushed heavily and couldn’t get a word out during their trek across the school to class. All that was left was Monika, and Piper hoped she liked it as much as the other girls. 

So now, she stood outside the literature club, bracing herself for whatever Monika’s reaction was. She knew it was going to be good. She hoped it was a good one. 

She pushed open the door to hear the familiar sound of Monika humming as she wrote something on the board, and she turned to look at Piper. Her words caught in her throat as she looked at Piper, and the latter blushed and ran her hands through the short brown mass. 

“Surprise?” Piper said, making jazz hands with her other hand. Monika just gaped at her, like a fish, and Piper could swear she saw a bit of drool on the left side of Monika’s mouth. She stifled a laugh and smiled at her, which seemed to break Monika out of her trance. 

She cleared her throat and flushed, before saying, “I like your haircut.”

Piper smiled shyly at her, “Thanks. The others liked it too.”

“Damn right we did!” Natsuki entered the classroom, followed by Yuri, “You actually look decent for once!”

“Natsuki!” Yuri lightly smacked her on the head, “She looks decent all the time!”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Sayori said, walking into the classroom with a wink, “I bet you didn’t even brush your hair today, yeah?”

Piper flushed with all the complements, “I-, th-thank you?”

“Come on, everyone loves it!” Monika said, grinning at her. Piper just flushed even more, and tugged at loose strands of her hair. 

“Not everyone…” She muttered, looking away. 

“Well, the people who matter love it,” Sayori said, “Just because people are staring doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world!”

Piper said nothing, and tugged on the back of her head. The girls looked at each other, a bit worried, before Monika shot them a look. She tapped her cheek and pointed at Piper, who was still turned away, and the other girls grinned at nodded.

“Well, Piper,” Monika began, sliding up on Piper’s right side. 

“We thought you could use a confidence boost…” Sayori added, slithering over to Piper’s left side. 

“So, we’re going to give you this!” Natsuki finished, getting on the left side as well. 

“We just want you to be happy.” Yuri stated. 

Piper looked at each of them, confused, until they began to get closer. They all leaned in and planted kisses on Piper’s cheek, then withdrew, looking mighty pleased with themselves. 

Piper, however, was a mess. She turned bright red, squeaked, and buried her face in her hands to try to hide her blush. It didn’t work, as her short hair revealed that her ears and neck were cherry red, and the girls just laughed and enveloped Piper in a hug. 

Piper squeaked again, the only noise she was capable of making so far, but relaxed into the hug. 

“Thanks,” she murmured, “I love you guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i turned pink while writing this it's so wholesome


	11. Dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the chapter you've all been waiting for

Koa was slightly concerned about her master. 

She came home red-faced, clearly embarrassed, but her scent was… happy? She kept touching her cheeks and shaking her head, her fingers combing through her now-short hair. 

Koa was in quite a shock when her master came home with that hair. She had thought it was another person trying to get in! But, as soon as she heard her master’s voice come out of the person’s mouth, she knew it was her. 

But now, her master was feeling off, and Koa had an idea. She bolted through the house and grabbed her dark blue leash and sprinted back to where her master was sitting. 

She dropped the leash at her feet and barked, a deep, booming sound that rolled around the house and her master looked up from the way her head was buried in her hands. Koa barked again, and nudged the leash, whining. 

Her master slowly looked at her and nodded slightly, before clipping on the leash and burying her face into Koa’s fluffy head. Koa whined and withdrew her head, licking her master’s face instead. She laughed, and held out her hands to block the blow. Koa barked again, hopping and stretching her front legs out in front of her, the universal sign for ‘Play with me! Play with me!’.

Her master laughed and let out a small roar before rushing towards her big, black dog. Koa barked and dashed to the side, and her master soon followed. She charged again, and again Koa dodged her, always just a little out of reach. 

This continued for some time, until her master finally caught her after Koa stumbled on the floor and was suddenly enveloped by human arms. She barked happily and fell on the floor, exposing her belly.   
Her master responded instantly, burying her hands in her soft, black belly and began to scratch. Koa panted happily, kicking her leg in reaction to the belly rub. Suddenly, she scrambled up and tackled her master, who screeched and fell to the ground, only just managing to save her head from slamming on the floor. 

Instantly, Koa jumped on her hand began to lick her face, barking and whining, trying to get at her master’s face, while she shielded it with her arms. Deep laughs came out of her master, and Koa barked in her face before rolling off, bounding to the door. She barked at it, and her master came running, still laughing a bit. 

Her master opened the door, to find that her master’s friend had come over! It was the one with the bow, the one who always smelled of sadness and breakfast. But Koa didn’t care now. More playmates!  
Koa barked and lunged, before a hand shot out and grabbed her collar. Koa looked back at her master, annoyed, until she remembered that she wasn’t supposed to jump on strangers. Koa whined and she was let go, sniffing her friend as opposed to jumping on her. She paused when she felt her master’s scent grow a tint of embarrassment to it. 

She looked up, and her master was going red in the face again, scratching at the back of her head. The friend was saying something in their human language, and by the looks of it, they were both having a friendly conversation. 

Suddenly, her master gestured to Koa and said something, which the friend grinned and nodded, a bit of the sadness dissipating. Koa barked at being addressed, but then her master grabbed her leash and her friend’s hand, and they set off down the road. 

Koa barked and wove between their legs, trying to get to the best sniff-spot, when she heard her master yelp.

The aftermath of her weaving was that her master’s legs were tangled in the leash with her friend’s, and they were now nose-to-nose staring at each other. They stayed that way for a second, before Koa barked and they both turned red and started apologizing. 

Her master eventually got out of the tangle, and after scolding Koa a little, she gave her a small wink and mouthed, ‘thank you’. Koa gave her a little grin, before trotting along the sidewalk. Her master turned to her friend and blushed, before taking her hand again and heading down the road. 

It was a little way into the walk when the friend started waving at someone, and then her master began to wave and shout, making a little bit of a fool out of herself. The person looked over at where they were walking, and jogged over. 

Her long, light brown hair was tied in a ponytail with a big white bow, and she wore running shorts and a shirt that hugged her figure. It was clear she was going out for a jog, and happened to cross their path. 

She jogged up to where they were walking, and Koa strained at her leash, trying to get to her. Her master was pulled along with her, unable to get a strong grip on the bear-of-a-dog’s leash, and Koa ran up to her master’s friend. 

It was one of the girls who had come over for the sleepover a while back, and Koa had almost forgotten her. She smelled of another dog, a golden retriever by the smell of it, and a small bird. She smelled intelligent, if that made sense, as her scent was laden with books and paper and ink. She stood a few inches taller than her master, and by that judgement, only a few feet taller than Koa. 

She did stand to her master’s mid-torso level, so she was bigger than most dogs. The bow-friend leaned down and pet Koa who barked happily and licked her hand. The bow-friend chuckled and rubbed her head, giving her a final pat before straightening and saying something to her master.

Her master nodded and soon they had another person added to their walking journey, and Koa was content. The humans chattered and hummed and just made noises in their weird language, some weren’t that unpleasant, but once her master screeched slightly in response to her friend’s noises, and buried her face in her hands. Koa flicked her ears and looked back, annoyed, and saw that the bow-friend was patting her master’s back, while the other friend was laughing. 

It was soon after that they found two other people. One was taller than the bow-friend, and Koa came up to about her hip, and her long, violet hair swished around her waist. Coming closer, Koa thought it smelled a little like iron, lavender, and green tea. A very unusual scent, but a nice one. 

She looked nervous, Koa noted, and she greeted her friends quietly. 

The other was shorter than the rest of them, and had pink hair. She too, smelled strongly of iron, but also cake and cotton candy, which Koa suspected was some of the stuff humans put in their hair to make it smell nice. Koa got bathed in the stuff, and didn’t like all that much, so she rolled around in the mud afterwards.

Her master was rather upset by that. Though Koa didn't know why.

But the pink-haired angry friend greeted them enthusiastically, and she seemed like she was afraid of Koa by the wary looks she shot her. 

Koa, not having any of this, trotted up to the pink human and began to sniff her, coming up to about her mid-ribs. The girl turned as stiff as a board, and Koa could smell a hint of fear and sweat coming off of her scent. Eventually, the girl relaxed and ran her fingers through the dog’s fluffy black coat, albeit a bit hesitantly. 

Her master just laughed and tugged them along, and Koa barked happily before trotting ahead of the group.

When she looked back, she saw that they were all holding hands, and that she had never seen her master look happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> koa is the real mastermind behind all this


	12. Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> let it fuckign snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY NANOWRIMO KICKED MY ASS

One Saturday morning, Piper woke up to something unusual. It was really cold in her room, which was not odd considering it was winter, but something seemed off.

The moment she woke up, the left side of her face ached, the part where her eye once was. It usually ached when it was raining, or when she had just hit the side of her face up against the bed frame, which was often.

So, she lazily propped herself up on her hands and looked out the second story window. She blinked in surprise, unsure of what was really happening as her vision came into focus.

Snow.

It was snowing in Piper’s backyard. She blinked a couple times, her mind refusing to process what she was seeing. When it had finally sunk in, she bolted out of bed and downstairs. Throwing open the door, she stepped out into the white wonderland.

She shivered slightly as her feet met the ice-cold concrete steps, but she continued down them, letting the door to her house swing shut behind her. She picked up a handful of snow, the bitter cold of the substance stung her hands, and began to play with it, molding it into different shapes.

After about a minute or so, her hands were beginning to feel numb as well as her feet. She walked over to the door and pulled, her face screwing into a look of horror as she realized it was locked.

She tried again, and again, but the door refused to budge. Piper muttered a curse as she realized that the door was self-locking, and she was going to have to wait for one of her friends to come around and unlock it for her.

Her friends.'

Piper shot up from her position on the stairs. Sayori’s house was just a few blocks away from here, and she had a key to her house! She carefully walked down the steps, wincing as every step made her feet sting with the freezing cold.  
  
The walk to Sayori’s was one of the most painful ones of her life. It seemed like the wind had picked up since she had left her house, and she was shivering in her pajamas. Her hair had started to stick to her face from the wet snow, and it soon froze there.

When Piper finally trudged up to Sayori’s doorstep, she was practically frozen where she stood. She could barely knock on her door, her hands were shaking and numb. From what weak knocks she gave, there was no answer.

Piper huffed, her breath making a little cloud of condensation in the air, and walked around to the back. She shuddered violently as her feet hit the deep snow, but she trudged on, shoving her fingers into her armpits.

Once in the backyard, she looked up and found Sayori’s bedroom window. She groaned as she remembered it was on the second floor, and that she would have to climb.

She spotted a tree near her window, and winced as the frozen bark dug into the bottom of her foot.

“L-L-Like it wasn’t fr-frozen already…” Piper mumbled, pulling herself up to another branch.

She almost lost her balance when she got to the top, and desperately clung to the branch next to her window. Once she deemed herself steady, she carefully leaned over and tapped on Sayori’s window. She frowned as it got no response, and did it again, louder this time.

Again, no response. She growled and rapped on her window, yelling, “S-Sayori! W-Wake up!”

She heard a thump as Sayori fell from her bed and then a mad scramble to the window. The window was suddenly forced open and Piper flinched, almost losing her balance again.

“Piper? What?” Sayori said, her eyes half-lidded with exhaustion, “It’s a Saturday, what do you—” she paused as she noticed the weather outside, and how Piper was shivering on the branch, “It’s snowing! Wait, Piper, did you walk here in that?! You must be freezing!”

Piper’s body gave a shudder in agreement as she crawled in through the window and landed with a thump on Sayori’s carpet.

“Why did you walk here?” Sayori muttered, throwing a duvet over her shaking friend, “In bare feet no less!”

“I l-locked myself out o-of my h-house…” Piper said.

“How’d you do that?” Sayori asked, crossing her arms warily.

“W-Well, my doors are self-self-self… _HHhh’Schew_!” Piper sneezed suddenly, before sniffling and continued, “Self-locking.”

“But why’d you go out in your bare feet and pajamas anyways?” Sayori asked, “You’re getting sick already!”

“Well, I wanted to play in the snow…” Piper mumbled, “And getting snow gear takes too much time…”

Sayori shook her head, but laughed slightly. “Come on, Piper. I’ll make you coffee or something.”

“Aw, yeah!” Piper said, pumping her fist in triumph, “Thanks, Sayo-Sayor _hh… hhH’Skew_!”

Sayori just chuckled and trotted downstairs, Piper in tow. They both stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Sayori turned on the coffee maker and tipped the ground beans into the coffee filter. Piper watched her, taking a seat on a stool near the little island counter, still wrapped in the duvet.

“So, why did you walk out in pajamas and bare feet again?” Sayori asked, fixing the other girl with a mock-glare.

Piper had the decency to look sheepish, and said, “Well, since it’s the first snow of the season, I wanted to get a jumpstart on playing in it.”

“Without shoes,” Sayori said, raising an eyebrow, “In pajamas.”

“Yes!” Piper said, throwing her hands up in the air, “I’m stupid, I know! No need to tell me, I am aware!”

Sayori frowned, and walked over to her friend. She wrapped her arms around her blanketed frame, hugging her tighter as she felt her faint shivers under the duvet.

“You’re not stupid, Piper.” Sayori said, then smirked as she muttered, “Most of the time.”

Piper snorted and pushed the other girl off her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sayori stuck out her tongue playfully, before the coffee maker gurgled and began to spit out the liquidized beans.

“You like Nutella in it, right?” Sayori said, and Piper perked up and nodded eagerly, “You’re going to give yourself a heart attack with all the sugar, you know that right?”

Piper nodded as she took her slightly-goopy coffee, and insisted, “It’s not good unless I can taste the diabetes!”

Sayori chuckled, “Yeah, yeah, I know,” and then, upon seeing Piper put the coffee to her lips, “Careful, it’s hot.”

Piper narrowed her eyes in a challenge, and before Sayori could do anything, took a large gulp of her coffee. Immediately she spat it back into the cup and gasped, coughing as she recovered from her near-death experience.

“What did I tell you?” Sayori asked, raising an eyebrow, looking like a suburban mom who had just asked to see someone’s manager.

Piper finished coughing, and muttered, “That it was hot.”

“And what did you do?”

Piper sighed heavily and closed her eyes, “Burn the inside of my mouth and the front of my throat as a challenge.”

Sayori giggled, and mock-glared, “So you’ve learned your lesson?”

Piper opened one eye and stuck out her tongue at the other girl. Sayori giggled harder, and Piper began to laugh as well. Unfortunately, the laughing turned to hacking on Piper’s part, and she doubled over on the counter, tears coming to her eyes. Sayori rubbed her back to soothe her, and after about a half a minute, Piper calmed down, breathing heavily.

“I almost died,” she gasped, turning to Sayori, “Tell my story…”

She collapsed dramatically on the table, and she heard Sayori giggle faintly again from behind her. She opened an eye and grinned, before sitting up and stretching slightly, feeling her bones pop satisfyingly.

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?” Sayori asked as Piper took a sip of her cooled-down coffee.

Piper nodded, “Yeah, I mean, being sick is more of a nuisance for me than anything, so I’ll be able to function more or less the same.”

“You mean, like you just drank three cans of monster right before a test you didn’t study?” Sayori teased, a light of mischief in her eye.

Piper nodded and grinned, “I’m still amazed you let me do that.” 

Sayori grimaced, remembering the aftermath, “Not really one of my best decisions, or yours for that matter.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Piper said, waving a hand, “But it’s in the past now, right? I won’t do it again, I swear.”

“The monster thing or the snow thing,” Sayori said, cocking an eyebrow, “Because I’m pretty sure you’ll do both again, probably next week.”

“What, you have no faith in me?” Piper asked, putting her hand to her chest, “You wound me, fair maiden. I don’t know how I’ll live on!”

Sayori giggled a little at being called ‘fair maiden’, but just grinned and said, “Well, I’ll guess you’ll have to find another person who can put up with you.”“Nah, you’re stuck with me,” Piper grinned as she hopped off the stool. She glanced out the window, and said, “The snow’s stopped. I can probably go home now.”

“Fine, but take my boots.” Sayori said, gesturing to the doorway. Piper smiled at her, a genuine smile that Sayori had seen a thousand times, but still took her breath away.

“Thanks,” Piper whispered, leaning in and kissing Sayori’s lips quickly, before turning beet red and sprinting to the doorway. Sayori stood there, a look of dumbfounded happiness on her face, before she heard the door slam and was brought back to reality. She turned tomato-red, and pressed a hand to her lips, trying to relive the sensation.

She shook her head of those thoughts, muttering something about her stupid friend and her stupid charms, before heading up the stairs to get some more sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its small and stupid but good enough


	13. Horror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> piper's gay and scared of librarians ink monsters

“Yuri, Yuri, Yuri!” Piper shouted, barreling into the library with the force of Koa when she saw another dog, “Look what I got!”

Yuri, who was reading her book quietly, was startled at the sudden appearance of her friend, and took a moment to compose herself. When she had finally calmed down from the shock, she had looked over to see Piper bouncing on the balls of her feet, holding a computer.

“What did you get, Piper?” Yuri asked, before the computer was shoved in her face. She leaned back a little to read the words, ‘Bendy and the Ink Machine’.

“I just downloaded it, and it’s supposed to be really good!” Piper said, withdrawing the computer, “And I figured that I could play it with you, since you love horror games and all that!”

“Piper, I’m reading. Maybe some other time?” Yuri said, gesturing at her book. Piper whined and gave Yuri her sad puppy-eyed look, an expression that should be illegal for how often it worked. Yuri sighed heavily, and said, “Fine, but let me pack up, okay?”

“Okay!” Piper said, hopping around with joy. One of the librarians gave her a look and put her fingers to her lips, and Piper instantly deflated, looking a little scared. She looked at Yuri and repeated in a quieter tone, “Okay.”

Yuri nodded at her and slung her messenger’s bag over her shoulder, grabbing the book she had been reading and they both made their way out of the library. Piper kept glancing over her shoulder, as if looking for something.

“Piper, what are you doing?” Yuri asked as Piper looked over for the fifth time. 

Piper jumped and turned to the taller girl with a sheepish look, “The librarians are scary and they don’t like me. What if one followed me home!”

“Piper, the librarians are not going to follow you home,” Yuri said, and added upon Piper’s apprehensive look, “We can go to my house if you’re so worried.”

“Yay!” Piper exclaimed, “I get to go to your house! I’ve never been, what’s it like?”

“Um, well…” Yuri stuttered, trying to keep up with the enthusiasm of the shorter girl, “It’s… really big, I guess? I-It’s got a lot of rooms, at least.”

“I bet it’s bigger than my house,” Piper said, as they turned a corner. She let out a whistle as she saw what street they were on, “You live in the big neighborhood?”

“Th-The big neighborhood?” Yuri said, “I don’t know what you mean?”

“You know, the big neighborhood,” Piper said, making large gestures with her hands, “Big houses, big driveways, big neighborhoods. Probably big dogs.”

“In that sense, yes, I believe I do live in a big neighborhood.” Yuri said, turning up the driveway of one of the houses. She waved a hand to it and said, “This is my house.”

Piper let out a low whistle, “You do live in a big house. Damn.”

Yuri nervously fiddled with the key as she opened the door. Piper was immediately assaulted with the smell of what could only be described as Yuri. Most lavender, with some honey mixed in, and maybe a hint of iron. 

She walked in the door, trying to take everything in. There were stairs on the left side of the door, leading up to where Piper assumed was Yuri’s bedroom. A jangling sound caught her attention, and a cat trotted down the stairs and settled at Yuri’s feet. 

“Oh! This is Markov,” Yuri said, picking up the large, fluffy cat, “He’s pretty friendly. Mostly keeps to himself, though.”

“Sounds like someone I know,” Piper said, waggling her eyebrows at Yuri while petting Markov’s fluffy head. The cat yawned and licked her hand, and Piper grinned at him. 

Yuri cleared her throat and said, “W-We should go to my room. To play the game.”

Piper jumped and nodded, eagerly patting her computer. Yuri set the cat down and walked upstairs, gesturing for Piper to follow. Piper trotted up the stairs, trailing Yuri like a lost puppy. 

The door to Yuri’s room was purple, which Piper should have expected. Yuri opened the door, and she discovered that the room was pretty big, but also a bit plain. A desk in one corner with a laptop, a bed in the opposite corner with a purple duvet. A closet in another corner of the room, with a dresser by the bed. It felt strangely… empty, like no one lived in the room. Probably because it was clean, unlike Piper and Sayori’s bedrooms. 

“W-Well?” Yuri asked, “D-Do you like it?”

Piper nodded slightly, making her way over to the desk. She pushed the laptop out of the way, setting up hers in its place. She felt Yuri drag another chair over to the desk, but Piper paid it no mind, as she was setting up the game with a look of rare intensity. 

When the game finished loading, she sat back with a relieved sigh, and turned to Yuri. Piper grinned, “I guess we should start playing, eh?”

“Y-Yes.” Yuri said, with slight seriousness, “We should.”

The first half of the game was alright, if not a bit creepy. Collecting parts of the ‘ink machine’ in the slight darkness of the game gave off an apprehensive vibe, with the absence of music and all that.   
“Yuri, can you turn the lights off?” Piper asked, and Yuri gave her a strange look, but got up.

“Why?” She asked, flicking the light switch so that they were plunged into darkness.

“I want to feel the scare.” Piper said, “It’s not a horror game until I almost shit my pants at a jumpscare.”

“Okay then,” Yuri said, slightly disturbed at Piper’s metaphor.

They played for a couple more minutes in the dark, before Piper had collected all of the stuff needed for the machine. She placed each of the items on their respective pedestals, and took a deep breath before flipping the switch to turn the machine on. 

Instantly, Piper flinched, as if expecting something to happen. She saw Yuri tense too, out of the corner of her eye. They both calmed once they realized that nothing had happened. Piper began to make her way to the exit, a little disappointed.

“This wasn’t much of a horror game, am I right?” Piper said, laughing a bit nervously. 

Yuri nodded, “I expected more, somehow.” Then she noticed something off about one of the rooms, the one with the machine in it, “Hey, what’s that?”

Piper cocked her head in confusion, but made her way over to the room. “It looks like something’s in there…”

Suddenly, a hand shot out of the broken wood planks that had boarded up the door, and Piper screeched and jumped into Yuri, who managed to catch her. Yuri flinched, probably more from her friend’s screaming and the sudden assault on her arms, though. 

Piper barreled through the hallways, trying to find the exit to the factory, and flinched once more as the floor gave way out from under her and she fell into the deep abyss. 

The ending scene rolled, of an underground factory and the character, Henry, trying to figure out where he was. 

Piper shuddered in relief as the ending credits for the chapter rolled, and then flushed as she realized the position she was in. She carefully extracted herself from Yuri, muttering apologies over and over again, before turning back to the screen. 

“So, want to play another chapter?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im not sorry and i updated the last chapter so give it a read if you want


	14. Baking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PLU PLU PLU PLUS ULTRA GAYYYSSSSS
> 
> lmao sorry for the long wait!!! im dead and school's almost over so im swamped with work at the moment!! it's not really as bad as it seems, im just horrible at managing my time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> piper does not know how to bake, luckily, she had a friend who will show her

“Do you wanna make cupcakes with me?” Natsuki’s words came out in a rush, a light pink flush settling over her cheeks. Piper startled slightly, the question came out of nowhere in semi-dead silence. She turned to look at the younger girl, and cocked her head in a question. Natsuki huffed and repeated, “I said; do you want to make cupcakes with me? I-I mean, it’s okay if you don’t want to, you not like I would want your half-decent face souring the cupcake batter – “

She was cut off by Piper looking at her with sparkling eyes and a dopey, lopsided smile that made her look like a happy puppy. “Really?” Piper asked excitedly, leaning forwards and grinning at her. 

Natsuki flushed deeper but squared her shoulders and nodded, “I mean, yeah, if you want to, sure.”

“Yes!” Piper exclaimed, getting dirty looks from the nearby students. She blushed slightly and repeated, “Yes. I would. Very much.”

“Okay,” Natsuko said, “We’re gonna have to do it at your house, though.”

“Why?” Piper asked cocking her head in confusion, and again Natsuki was reminded of a confused puppy. Probably from growing up around dogs, she supposed.

“…Family issues,” Natsuki said, “Nothing to worry about, really! Just… my dad, as you know.”

Piper nodded, her face uncharacteristically grim. She brightened up after a second, and said, “So, do I get to learn the secret art of baking? Is it hard?”

“You’ve never baked before?” Natsuki asked, “Why not?”

“Ovens and I… don’t get along,” Piper muttered sheepishly, “My first attempts were… failures, to say the least. At least with you around, I probably won’t burn the house down.”

She muttered something under her breath that Natsuki could catch, but she just shrugged it off, promising to be there at five.

“Alright, see you tonight!” Piper exclaimed, packing up her stuff and heading out the door. Natsuki couldn’t help but feel like she’d made a horrible mistake. 

The following evening, Natsuki walked up to Piper’s house with a bag full of cupcake supplies and ingredients. She knocked at the door, before a bang sounded from inside the house, and then a skittering of claws and feet on hardwood floors. Huge barks came from the front door and Natsuki stepped back a bit in shock and a little bit of fear. 

The door opened and there stood Piper, struggling to keep a hold on her bear of a dog, which was straining at the collar, trying to get to Natsuki. 

Piper smiled tiredly at her, her black t-shirt stained with something resembling paint, and managed to heave the dog inside, shutting the door after her. Deep barks came from the house, but they ignored them. She made grabby-hands for the supplies and said, “I can take ‘em.”

“No, I can do it,” Natsuki said, unconsciously tightening her grip on the bag.

“You probably want to give me that, though,” Piper said, “Seeing as Koa probably wants to jump on you as soon as you walk through the door.”

Natsuki paled and handed Piper the cupcakes supplies, bracing herself for the sudden attack. Piper took a deep breath and opened the door, and instantly a large, furry mass shout out from the house. It barreled into Natsuki, and she frantically waved out an arm to keep from falling. 

Unfortunately, the arm latched onto Piper’s shoulder, and she went down as well. Luckily, she managed to keep the bag upright, unluckily, she landed hard on her shoulder, sending starbursts of pain up and down her collarbone. 

Natsuki wasn’t faring much better, as muffled shrieks came from under the large dog. Eventually, Koa let up and Natsuki gasped, bolting upright and panting heavily. She glared at the dog and wiped some of the drool off her face, a sour expression adorning her features.

Piper looked over, and upon seeing Natsuki covered in dog drool, and her bangs sticking upright, started laughing. 

“Why are you laughing?” Natsuki asked, her face flushed and her voice an octave higher than usual. Piper, doubled over with laughter and pain, pointed a shaking hand at the cowlick, or dog-lick, that Koa had given her. 

Natsuki flushed an even deeper red as she touched her drool-ridden hair. She frantically tried to slap it down, but to no avail. 

“Hahh… wait…” Piper gasped, pushing her way over to Natsuki and reaching a hand up to her head, “I’ll… heh… I’ll help.”

Natsuki stood stock-still as Piper combed her hair in the right direction. It felt kind of nice, though the drool in her hair was still sticky and she would probably have to take a shower later. When Piper was done, a light pink blush adorned her face and she drew back, averting her eyes and scratching the back of her head with a slightly damp hand. 

Piper, in a fit of nervous energy, grabbed the bag of cupcake supplies and shot up, nervously tapping her foot and shifting feet. She held out a slightly shaking hand to help Natsuki up, which she took after a moment’s hesitation. 

Koa barked at they both flinched, and Piper smiled nervously, “Well, the cupcake ingredients are a little smushed, but I think they’re still useful?”

Natsuki looked in the bag and nodded, “Yeah, they’re fine. L-Let’s just get inside.”

Piper nodded and walked inside, Koa trotting after her. Natsuki, with a glare at the dog’s retreating back, followed after them into the house. 

Piper’s kitchen looked like it was never used, probably because it wasn’t. Piper rarely spent time in the kitchen, the most she could cook was instant ramen, and even then the flames from the stove made her nervous. 

“So!” Piper said, clapping her hands together, “What do we do?”

Natsuki inwardly sighed at the prospect of the long hours spent in the kitchen that were inevitable. She spread the cupcake supplies over the counters. 

“Alright, first…” 

Soon, they were mixing the flour for the batter. Piper produced measuring cups from somewhere, and she started to pour out the flour. 

She frowned as she got some on her hands, but then smirked wickedly as she had an idea. She snuck up behind Natsuki, who was pouring the ingredients in the mixing bowl, and slapped some of the flour on Natsuki’s neck. 

She flinched and stopped for a second, and Piper wasn’t sure she was breathing. After a second, Natsuki turned to her eyes, wide as she realized what she did. 

Natsuki shrieked, grabbed a handful of flour, and threw it at the other girls’ face. Piper flinched and stumbled up against the counter, swearing and wiping flour out of her eyes. When her vision cleared, she saw Natsuki looking up at her, smirking triumphantly. 

“Oh, now you’re going down,” Piper snarled, and Natsuki squeaked before a handful of flour smacked into her forehead. 

An all-out war ensued. Soon, the walls and floors were covered with flour, with the Piper face-down on the floor, absolutely covered in flour form head to toe. Natsuki didn’t fair much better, as she was slumped next to the counter, also covered in flour.

“Truce?” Piper gasped, before coughing, having inhaled some of the flour.

Natsuki began to nod, then realized that Piper could not see her from her position, “Yeah, sure.”

“We did waste a lot of flour though,” Piper sighed, rolling over on her back, “Good thing I still have some in the pantry.”

“Yeah,” Natsuki sighed, wincing as she got up, shaking flour off her outfit. Piper groaned and shifted to a standing position as well, muttering something about needing to work out more.

At the end of the day, Natsuki looked around at all the chaos they had caused. The sinks and the counters were and absolute mess, some of which were severely burned (Piper refused to even touch that side of the kitchen until Natsuki made absolutely sure that the counters stopped smoldering).

Speaking of Piper, she was eating the leftover semi-burned trial cupcakes on the other side of the kitchen (“It’s a waste of pastry to throw them away!”), while simultaneously scrubbing the table down with a wet rag. She crammed another half a cupcake in her mouth and dipped the rag in water again, cleaning one part of the table.

“You know, if you eat anymore cupcakes you’re going to hurl,” Natsuki said, clearing away some of the flour from the counters, “N-Not that I care, just aim for the sink, please.”

Piper gave her a semi-dirty look and grinned, her teeth gunked up with cupcake and frosting. She swallowed and said, “Wow Natsuki, didn’t know you cared.”

“I-I don’t!” she shrieked, blushing slightly, “I just don’t want to clean up more of your mess than I have to!”

“Hey, you were a part of the mess too, you know!” Piper shot back, grinning as she remembered the flour war just a few moments prior, “Besides, I totally won the Great Flour War of 2018.”

“Nuh-uh!” Natsuki exclaimed, “I totally had you down from the start! You just refuse to admit it!”

“Not true!” Piper said, “I got you good in the middle there, didn’t I?”

Natsuki shuddered slightly, remembering the feeling of the white powder going down her shirt. She sighed reluctantly and said, “Yes, but I still totally won! Besides, we both need showers anyways. Or at least need to be hosed off somehow.”

“Yeah,” Piper muttered, tugging at her white-stained shirt, “These need to go in the washing machine too. I can take your clothes as well, if you like?”

“N-Nah, I can handle them,” Natsuki said, scraping some of the smoldering substance off the counters, “My house is just a few blocks away, anyways. You don’t need to do that.”

“Well, at least let me get one of my jackets to help hide the mess,” Piper muttered, disappearing upstairs before Natsuki could protest, “I’ll be down in a minute! Just – Just keep doing what you’re doing!”

Natsuki sighed and mumbled something about her dumb, stupidly thoughtful friends, and managed to finish the counter when Piper came back down. She was holding a greyish-green jacket that once might have been a cool color, but had faded over the years. It was stained with paint and marker and Koa’s fur managed to turn some parts of it a pale grey, but when Piper slipped it over Natsuki’s shoulders as she grabbed her bag and walked to the front door, it was still the best thing in the world at the moment. 

Piper flushed slightly at seeing her friend in her old jacket and grinned at her, pressing a container of the good cupcakes in her hand. “I’ll see you around!” she said, waving her out, “And maybe next time you can teach me how to make frosting!”

Natsuki waited until the doors had shut and she was a good distance away from her friend’s house, before burying her nose in her jacket and sighing. While the smell of old paint and dog hair was mildly unpleasant, it was still her friend’s (crush’s) coat, and she blushed slightly and shook her head.

Now, she had some cupcakes to give out at their next meeting and a dad to avoid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dang natsuki ur gay
> 
> well, so am i, so i can't judge
> 
> also, i've learned that i can live off a salary of gravedigging and woodworking so if engineering (or any field i go into) doesn't work out, i know what i can fall back on
> 
> i have too much free time and so little modivation


End file.
